My Lady’s Make-up

“Your beauty. . .should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:3,4).

“How shall we become lovely? By loving Him who is ever lovely” (Augustine); “Some glances of real beauty may be seen in their faces, who dwell in true meekness. There is a harmony in the sound of that voice to which Divine love gives utterance, and some appearance of right order in their temper and conduct whose passions are regulated” (John Woolman).

The Christian woman’s true make-up, her character, is one of nurture, calm, and service. These are the ornaments that shine more brightly as we get older. Christian character should become exquisite with age. The Christian spirit is a tempered spirit, not a spirit of temper. It is tempered with the heavenly alloy of Christ-like refinement, disposition and habits. It is only by ardently beholding Christ that we can “make-up” such a character.

A story is told of a girl who was ugly. She became the target of cruel remarks from her classmates. She became bitter and vindictive. One day her French teacher asked her, “What is wrong, little one?” “I am so ugly,” the girl cried. The teacher took her to her room and handed the sad little girl a round and brown thing that looked as ugly as the girl. She told the girl to plant and water it carefully. In time a golden Japanese lily grew out of that ugly thing. The little girl then realized that beauty and fragrance are inside; that she, ugly on the outside, could share her inner loveliness and balm, and no one would even notice what had so bothered her.

As the adage reminds us, beauty is only skin-deep; the radiance of character lies in our depth. “The King’s daughter is all glorious within” (Psalm 45:13 NAS).